CR388/2007 was later amended by Council Resolution CR64/2015, which extended the exception of private access structures to include exemption of “special benefit” works that benefit individual properties.

Having due regard for the provisions of the Drainage Act, 1990, and with due consideration given to CR388/2007 and CR64/2015, we have established a rationale for assessing the construction costs and associated incidental expenses including preparation of this report. Our assessment rationale is summarized below:

The Drainage Act, 1990 gives authority to assess lands, roads and public utilities for benefit, outlet and injury liability, special benefit and special assessments. We have determined that four types of assessments are applicable to this project, namely: benefit; outlet liability; special benefit; and, special assessment.

Section 22 of the Act provides for assessment of project costs towards lands, roads, buildings, utilities or other structures that derive an advantage or improvement from the construction, improvement, repair or maintenance of a drainage system. For this project, the works result in the draining of water more efficiently, the substantial reduction of flood potential of lands within the watershed area, a reduction in the potential for bank erosion, increased capacity of the drain resulting in elimination of the need for stormwater quantity control, and improved appearance of the drain, and the provision of access to lands south of the drain.

Section 23 of the Act provides for assessment of project costs towards any properties that use the drainage works as an outlet. For this project, all properties that contribute runoff to the drain are assessed outlet liability in proportion to the volume and rate that they contribute storm runoff to the drain.

Sections 24 and 26 of the Act provide for the assessment of project costs that relate to any features in the construction, repair, improvement or maintenance of the drainage system that have no effect on the functioning of the drainage system. For this project, an example of such works is the inclusion of the rectangular steel-lined drain segment to avoid physical impacts to lands owned by the Windsor Port Authority. These works were included to allow the project to proceed under the provisions of the BSTA, and to avoid construction delays. According the cost difference between the steel-lined channel and the earth lined channel are assessible to the Bridge Authority.

Special Benefit

The first step in preparing the assessment schedule is to identify special benefits and assessments and deduct these costs from the total project costs. For this project, we have identified two special benefits, namely: the inclusion of the steel-lined channel segment and the increased width of the access bridge that services the Windsor Port Authority property.

We have decided that inclusion of this steel-lined channel was solely needed to avoid delays in the bridge construction schedule. The feature does not improve the function of the drain beyond